Japan - Part 1

Japan was quite possibly our most anticipated country we were not going to stop a small thing such as no sleep stop us from enjoying every second. Thanks to the fantastic public transport infrastructure we were able to catch a train from the airport into central Osaka where it was a short stroll to our hotel. Bags checked in we headed out for an explore and some shopping.

On our way to the hotel we had passed through a shopping arcade, we headed there first to do some souvenir hunting. One of the first shops we stumbled upon was selling only one thing, costumes for cats, so many costumes!  We browsed the arcade, admiring colourful chopsticks, tiny spoons and huge collections of Japanese chef knifes. 

We made our way to Dōtonbori, the main shopping and eating street in Osaka. Feeling peckish we stopped at a street stall to buy some 'fried balls', when we purchased them we had no idea what they were. We found a bench to perch on in the busy street and tucked in, it immediately became clear we had inadvertently bought Takoyaki (Octopus balls) which Osaka is famous for and they were delicious!

As it was now early afternoon we found our way back to the hotel for check-in and retired to the room to catch up on that missed sleep from the night before.

In the morning we were excited to go to breakfast, intrigued by a Japanese breakfast buffet. It did not disappoint with selections of seaweed in many forms, miso soup, takoyaki, noodles and Japanese omelette.

Full of breakfast delights we headed back out to Dōtonbori to explore some more. We made our way to the Hozenji area, first to take a walk down a narrow street famed for small restaurants and then to Hozenji Shinto shrine which is hidden amongst the compact streets.

After enjoying the tranquillity of the shrine we continued towards the subway station, as we descended the stairs from the street we expected to find ourselves in the station itself, instead we found ourselves in a huge underground mall, looking around us we saw that the shops continued for hundreds of meters in both directions. As we walked along we passed a shop that at first glance appeared to be a mother and baby shop, selling prams, bags and baby clothes. Taking a closer look we realised that it was a shop selling items for dogs and their owners!

After a delicious lunch in a tiny restaurant we continued to the subway station, or so we thought... Whilst we were looking at the subway map, which was entirely in Japanese we were approached by an older lady who offered to help us. We happily accepted her offer which was mostly a combination of Japanese and hand gestures, it soon became apparent we were at the wrong station and she was going to show us where the correct one was, very generous we thought! After following her for a few minutes we arrived at the other (correct) station where we were handed an English language subway map which we were very grateful for and were about to say thank you and goodbye when she once again gestured for us to follow her. She next took us over to the ticket machines and made sure we purchased the correct tickets, again we were very grateful but before we got to say thanks we were being ushered towards the platform and after a very short wait onto a train, Osaka Grandma (as she is now known) boarded the train with us and took her seat, we assumed that she was going this way anyway. A few stops later where we were due to change to another line Osaka Grandma disembarked with us and waited with us on the platform until our next train arrived, again she boarded with us and rode for 5 stops to our destination. Once again she disembarked with us, pointed us to the platform exit and after our profuse thank yous she disappeared back into the subway station to head back towards where she found us and to carry on her day. We were completely taken aback by the efforts she went to to ensure we ended up in the correct place. Where ever you are Osaka Grandma, thank you again!

Our stop was Osaka Castle, a 16th century structure sat atop huge moat walls overlooking Osaka and the surround areas. The castle has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, the main tower now serving as a museum of the castle's history.

We took in the history and artwork relating to the castle's past and then enjoyed the views of Osaka Prefecture from the top of the castle tower, we were surprised at just how densely populated the area is with buildings stretching to the horizon in all directions.

We returned to our hotel to meet our tour group which was followed by a walk around the Dōtonbori area, which was even busier now that it was nighttime and then for some delicious gyoza with some of our new friends.

The next morning marked the start of our tour, the early morning start was to be the first of many. We walked to the train station to catch our train to Koyasan, an area known for a large temple settlement on Mount Koya which is where we were heading.

Our journey to the top of Mount Koya included a train, funicular railway and bus. We'd noticed the temperature drop as we got higher and higher, what we hadn't expected was the snow that fell as we rode the bus to the monastery, it certainly added a little magic to an already enchanting place.

We reached the monastery and were immediately relaxed by the incredibly peaceful surroundings, the buildings were scattered amongst trees and beautiful zen gardens.

This was to be our home for the next 24 hours, we'd be spending the night within the monastery. We were taken to our traditional room to drop off bags before exploring more of the area but not before enjoying a pot of green tea to warm up first.

We had a quick group meeting and lunch in 2 adjoining rooms (easily opened into one space thanks to the beautifully decorated sliding doors) and then made our way to Oku-no-in Cemetery

Oku-no-in Cemetery is the largest in Japan and is part of the complex of Kobo Daishi's mausoleum, the founder of the sacred mountain top settlement. There are remains of over 200,000 monks in the cemetery and walking through the 1200 year old forest was particularly eerie yet serene.

The path through the cemetery took us to the mausoleum, a temple which contains thousands upon thousands of donated lanterns, each lantern costing in the region of $10,000. The lanterns fill every possible space, lining the low ceiling and walls. As the site is of such importance to the followers of Shingon Buddhism photos are not permitted inside the temple.

Back in Koyasan we visited Kongobuji, the largest temple in the town. Kongoburi is known for its original decorated sliding doors (again, no photos allowed inside) and large stone gardens.

This was followed by a stop at Danjo-garan, a complex of large temples, particularly the striking and enormous 45 metres tall Konpon Daito pagoda.

We made our way back to the monastery to join a meditation session lead by the resident monks. We took our place in the main temple and enjoyed 15 minutes of meditation, a stark contrast to the business of the day so far. 

We returned to our room feeling great and found that the room had been changed for the night with futon beds now set up on the tatami mat floor.

We were soon called for dinner which was a meal called shojin-ryori, traditional vegetarian cuisine eaten by the monks.

After dinner we were taught by Mika, our guide, how to make crane origami.

Retiring to our rooms we donned the traditional Yukata robes and headed to the onsen, a pool of natural spring water heated to 40C, a wonderful thing when it's 2C outside!

After a surprisingly comfortable nights sleep we head another early start, early every morning the monks perform a prayer ceremony comprising of reciting texts and chanting in the main temple, this is followed by a fire ritual which is a way of showing appreciation to Buddhist saints and as a memorial to ancestors, it is also believed that the smoke has strong healing powers. 

Soon after we were invited to the dining hall for breakfast, a similar style meal to the one we had the evening before.

We then made our way back down the mountain, once again taking the funicular railway and train. Back at Osaka station we navigated our way to the Shinkansen platform, we were very excited about taking the bullet train!

In the station we had purchased bento boxes for lunch, as the train accelerated towards its 200mph top speed we enjoyed our food and appreciated the smooth, quiet ride of the train. 

The destination of this journey was Hiroshima, we arrived after 2 hours and made the short walk to our hotel. It was now early evening and we took the tram to Hiroshima Peace Park. Whilst walking to the park we went past the famous 'dome' building, famous because the building itself and its dome survived the blast of the nuclear bomb in 1945, 95% of all other structures within the blast radius were completely destroyed.

Within the Peace Park we visited the Hiroshima museum where we viewed a documentary about the nuclear bomb attack, its devastating effect on the area and the harrowing ordeal of survivors. Despite the scale of the atrocity it became apparent very quickly that the Japanese do not hold resentment or hatred about the event, instead they have adopted a mission for global nuclear disarmament and world peace which is greatly inspiring.

After the museum visit we went for dinner as a group, trying a local speciality called Okonomiyaki. The okonomiyaki restaurants are very small, our group just about squeezed into one!

This brings us to the end of our 4th day in Japan, in such a small amount of time we had already packed in so much! The rest of our time in Japan will be spread over further blog posts coming soon, watch this space!